Feature Story Final Draft

After moving to the United States from Taiwan at a young age and facing challenges of adjusting to a new way of living, LiJen Suter was given the job of a Language Specialist Agent (Linguist) in the FBI. Suter has been a Language Specialist for the FBI for 31 years, and continues to expand her knowledge of the English language, western culture, and current global events.

For the first portion of her life, Suter lived in a small village in Taiwan. Growing up in this small village, she and other children that lived there were raised being taught different morals than the average American child.

“Up to senior year of high school, I grew up in a village of 200 some families. I was the first woman to attend 4-year college from that village,” Suter said. “In Taiwan, like all Chinese, I was brought up to be passive and not aggressive, meaning one should not initiate conversation until elders talked to me first, to respect elders, to love siblings, to get higher education for parents to be proud.”

Suter moved to the United States when she received a scholarship from the Rotary Club as an exchange student when she was 27 years old. Because she had previous years of experience working in Taiwan, she was not nervous to move to a new country.

“When I first came to study in graduate school, I was already an old woman of 27-8 years old, so no, I was not nervous,” Suter said. “I was more frustrated trying to understand local Americans and hoping to be understood with my Chinese-thinking English, not the free American conversational style.”

The biggest challenge of moving to a new country for Suter was adjusting to the student life in America and living in a dormitory. Since Suter’s previous job in Taiwan required her to speak in English daily, English was already her second language. Learning to make it more conversational was the hard part.

“The English I spoke in Taiwan was not conversational, so I had to adapt to the more non-formal colloquial English with the local American students on campus,” Suter said. “For example, in Taiwan when someone tells me ‘Thank you’, I would reply ‘You are welcome.’ But on college campus, American students will reply ‘You bet’ when I say ‘Thank you’.”

The job of Linguist came unexpectedly to Suter. When she was looking for a job, she was notified that the FBI was in search of someone who had the knowledge that Suter had of the Chinese language. Suter majored in Western Literature and studied English, so she had the experience to take up this job.

“Actually, I did not seek for this job on purpose, it came to me when I was looking for a job from the State Employment office in St. Louis, Missouri,” Suter said. “I was told that the FBI is looking for Chinese speakers, so I applied.”

Suter did not immediately get the job. She had to apply for citizenship first, and then go through multiple tests to finally become an agent, which took multiple years. The time it took her to be qualified for the job was much longer that the time it takes for natural-born citizens because of the background check.

“For this job, I had to pass three stages of of testing (speaking, reading and writing), then after that, I had to pass the polygraph, hearing, and physical exam,” Suter said. “But the biggest hurdle would be the lengthy background investigation which could take two to three years for foreign born applicants.”

Being a Language Specialist requires lots of knowledge of both the Chinese and American cultures and languages. A typical day working in this job consists of doing translations, continuing to expand your knowledge and learning new material every day.

“Language Specialists at FBI come with a wide spectrum of expertise not only in their specific languages but also in education, work experience, and cultural background,” Language Specialist Dr. Kyong-Min Kim said. “We are indeed part of America’s global community.”

Being able to handle this profession is a challenge, and agents must be prepared for any short-notice  obstacles thrown at them. Suter has learned how to handle these challenges with the help of her education background and her daughters.

“There is no hardest part from the job itself, except the last-minute travel notice that I had to travel for four hours before a flight started,” Suter said. “The ability to handle the job came from my educational background, holding a master’s degree, the working experiences in dealing with people before starting this challenging job, and also in raising up three daughters that taught me a lot about facing challenges and being prepared for the unexpected.”

Along with moving to and finding a job in America, Suter met her husband, Leo Suter and raised a family after she came from Taiwan. She also brought parts of her culture along with her to share with her family in America.  

“LiJen met my dad while he was working with the FBI too, so it is likely they would not have met if she didn’t work there too,” Suter’s step daughter Karen Friedman said. “We tried new foods that we had never tried before that are traditional to Taiwan.”

Suter said she is proud of her contributions to her job and to our country. Her mastery of two cultures have helped her be successful in her job and in life in general.

“I was involved in various cases. I felt rewarded when the case was closed and the criminals were put in jail,” Suter said. “I am most proud that I can be working in the most professional organization that is well known worldwide, and contributing my abilities to the USA in a whole.”